An inside look at conservative feminism

Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like.

Email This Story

Send email to this addressEnter Your NameAdd a comment hereVerification

What comes to mind when you think of feminism? One might think of the Women’s March or the #MeToo movement. Another might think of fighting against the gender wage gap or for paid parental leave. What comes to mind when you think about conservatism? While I’m sure there’s a lot that many in the UO community might come up with to describe conservatism, it’s unlikely that many would think of feminism. In fact, I would likely get a side eye from several UO students if I said that conservatives could be feminists, too.

When reading an article written by the Network of Enlightened Women, an organization for conservative women, it seems to be that conservative women believe that “liberal feminists are waging war against conservative women. They are attacking conservative women who do not agree with their political agenda.” They continued, “Conservative feminism means empowering women in the workplace, politics and in society to achieve equal opportunity. It does not and should not mean radicalizing feminism to connotatively and definitively include only liberal issues like abortion and promoting a promiscuous sexual culture.”